Category: School Choice

Matt Damon School Choice Film Screening Nov. 2 — A film concerning school choice will be aired, 7 p.m., Nov. 2 at the Bryn Mawr Church of the Redeemer, 230 Pennswood Road, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010. It’s called Backpack Full of Cash and will be narrated by noted Hollywood star, Harvey-Weinstein enabler and Howard Zinn fan Matt Damon.

The tagline is “Why are vouchers and school choice killers of local public schools?”

Attend if you can. As Joanne Yurchak wisely notes conversation is good.

The event is free and sponsored by Parents Across America — Suburban Philadelphia, and the Moms’ Group of Bryn Mawr Church of the Redeemer.

The black clouds of Hurricane Katrina had a pretty bright silver lining.

Drastic measures were required after the storm hit a decade ago to get the children of New Orleans back in the classroom so the public education system — which was one of the nation’s worst — was scrapped and replaced with one based on charter schools.

By every measure things have gotten better.

Naturally, the stooges of the teachers union are upset but then they really don’t care about the kids now, do they?

If a decentralized, parental choice based charter school system can improve education for poor black kids it can certainly do the same for middle class white ones.

“…I’m in this spot where I have to call the school that failed my kids and re-enroll them…I’m heartbroken over this.”

That quote comes from Amy Millar via a Philadelphia Inquirer story on the State Education Department’s recent action to “clarify” what services cyber-charter schools can offer. According to the article, two of Ms. Millar’s children have special education needs. However, her children have flourished at the Education Plus Academy Cyber Charter School (Ed Plus).

What did Ed Plus do to bring the wrath of the state education bureaucracy down on their heads? They offered their students services like art, gym, and “face-to-face” learning opportunities at their learning centers. In other words, they looked at the needs of their students and provided for them. The State Department of Education evidently frowns on the hybrid model used by Ed Plus. As a result parents like Ms. Millard will be forced to send their children back to schools that were failing to meet their needs in the first place.

Although the Governor purports to want “quality” education for all. His administration’s actions in this and other cases clearly illustrate that is not entirely accurate. The Governor’s interest is in making sure that his patrons at the teachers’ union are happy and that there is as little competition as possible in the public education sphere.

If the Wolf administration was interested in ensuring every child received a quality education, they would be applauding Ed Plus. Furthermore, they would be examining what that school is doing differently and seeing how it might be replicated in other schools. The Department of Education should be looking at how they could make it easier for others schools to provide the same education experience. Instead, they seem more interested in erecting barriers to a quality education.

Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf, a man bought and paid for by the teachers unions, stripped Bill Green of his chairmanship of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, Sunday night, March 1. Why? Because Green heard the pleas of Philly parents and allowed for five new charter schools.

This was in defiance of Wolf and the unions who wanted no new ones.

Of the school district’s, 206,567 pupils, 64,301 now attend charter schools.

There is a waiting list of thousands more that has been estimated at 40,000.

The objection of Wolf and his cronies is that the charter school’s take money from the Philadelphia School District. The answer to this is that the Philadelphia School District prevents parents from sending their children to schools where they won’t be pushed around, threatened, mocked for “acting white” and actually get an education.

When are the residents of Philadelphia going to wake up to the reality that the Democrat Party is anything but their friend?

He says the website shows school spending by district, including total revenue, total expenditures, per-pupil expenditures and average staff salaries, albeit we could not find the average staff salaries and we had to figure out the per-pupil expenditures ourselves.

The website also tracks charter and cyber charter schools, and comprehensive career and technology centers, Cox says.

The extra $687 per pupil — which translates to $2,684,109 per year to the taxpayer — isn’t something to sneeze at but if it means more engineers and doctors and a cure for cancer who will object, right?

Some cynic here might chime in and and ask what if it doesn’t, well, we’ll get to that.

Philadelphia Academy’s total spending is $15,598,815 or $13,219 per pupil.

Springfield’s is $59,441,901 or $15,214 per pupil.

That’s $1,995 more per pupil which adds up to $7,794,465 per year to the taxpayer. While salaries to attract great teachers might be justifiable, one can see where the extra money for non-instructional use and support might make someone laid off or living on a fixed income feel a mite resentful.

But if a cure for cancer is coming, it is worth it, right?

Which gets us to the academics.

We should note here that 33 percent of Philadelphia Academy’s pupil population is “economically disadvantaged” with 20.76 percent in special education compared to 14.5 percent “economically disadvantaged” with 15.87 percent in special education for Springfield.

The school performance of Philadelphia Academy is higher than Springfield High School for mathematics/algebra (84.22 percent proficient or advanced on PSSA to 75.27) and science/biology (68.71 percent to 42.96) although SHS wins on reading/literature (87.36 percent to 77.28)

Regarding elementary education specifically, at least with regard to reading, Springfield wins with 89.7 percent of Scenic Hills pupils and 83.65 percent of Sabold’s pupils being proficient or advanced on reading as per the PSSA while Philadelphia Academy’s score was 80.6 percent.

We kind of think the great engineers and doctors and the cure for cancer are more likely to come out of Philadelphia Academy.

Choice Media‘s Philadelphia Kickoff of National School Choice Week is 9 -11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 22, from 9-11 a.m. at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, reports Commonwealth Foundation..

The event includes breakfast and a screening of The Ticket, a documentary that takes viewers on a historic whistlestop train tour across the country, featuring different forms of school choice and the children served.

Following the documentary, a distinguished panel of experts — including Commonwealth Foundation’s James Paul — will lead a conversation about school choice.

Matthew Brouillette of Commonwealth Foundation informs us that for the first time in seven years new charter school applications — there are 40 of them — are under review in Philadelphia.

This gives a bit of hope to those poor kids stuck on waiting lists.

He notes that in October, legislation was passed in October allowing thousands of more kids to attend a school of their parents choice.

You think school choice is bad thing? Then just imagine if you had to use the supermarket/electrician/lawyer/doctor the government picked for you.

School choice is a good thing just as being able to choose your supermarket its.

Brouillette also tells us some not-so-good New Year’s news. Seven Pennsylvania government union PACs have shoveled $7.6 million to candidates in 2013-14. This is an increase of 53 percent in just two years.

Brouillette notes that this money comes from dues collected at taxpayer expense as per a corrupt law.

The brutal beating of 13-year-old Destiny Hughes, a seventh grader at Water Valley High School in Mississippi, was caught on camera by fellow students, who it should be noted also stopped the assault as the teachers must have been otherwise preoccupied.

“You know, the school has a policy against bullying and violence, but if they’re not going to enforce it, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on,” said Destiny’s mother, Rhonda, who pointed out that her daughter had had numerous run ins with the girl prior to the assault captured on camera.

Mrs. Hughes is now suing the school and said she will be homeschooling her children.

If parents had the power to fire their schools — and teachers — this sort of thing would be far less frequent as those getting the money would have a strong incentive to nip it in the bud.

It should further be noted that school choice is not the end of public education as by definition voucher dollars would be tax dollars. Vouchers would expand education and increase its quality actually.

Further, if one opposes school choice ask yourself this: If parents cannot be trusted to choose their children’s teachers why can they be trusted to vote?

If one is honest one will conclude that since they can be trusted to vote (and choose their children’s doctors and food products and clothing), then then can be trusted to choose their children’s teachers and schools

Pennsylvania House Bill 91, was signed into law as Act 194 of 2014 on Oct. 31 by Gov. Tom Corbett.

The new law gives public career and technical schools eligibility to participate in two nationally acclaimed tax credit programs, the state Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs, says State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)

The EITC and OSTC programs allow eligible businesses that contribute to scholarship organizations affiliated with public or private schools to receive a tax credit equal to 75 percent of its contribution, up to a maximum of $750,000 per taxable year. The OSTC program targets students residing within the boundaries of low-achieving schools.

“Many of Pennsylvania’s 82 career and technical schools have limited options to receive scholarship donations,” said Cox. “This new law makes them eligible to take part in these popular tax credit programs that will improve the educational experience for students on a technical career path.”